God Supplies

Sometimes you don’t know what is it that you need or should be doing until it is thrust upon you. That is my story. I was content living in the Assisted Living even though I was 45 at the time. Rather young to be living among those not in control of their bodily fluids or very confused. I was none of these. To be truthful I was in a wheelchair commuting for an hour or more to college to get my degree in Psychology.

I had been doing the commute for about 2 years when a girlfriend from church told me that I didn’t belong in an assisted living and that I should be living on my own. I explained to her that I couldn’t afford to live on my own, that’s when she told me about her company Donahue and their affordable apartment in a very urban Southern California city closer to the college I was going to. She brought me an application to church the next Sunday. When I saw where it was located in the heart of city (the business district) I was not interested. I had sent in the application and l had been told it would be told it would be a 1 to 2 year wait, I was fine with that. She later called saying that she just found out that Donahue had a property in another city in So Cal and I should apply to that one as well. I made the appointment filled out the application and was told that this one would be a wait of 3 to 4 years. It was out in the middle of nowhere, with one bus stop in-front of it. Since this one was even more undesirable than the first I prayed that there would be another option.

I typed in Donahue on to my computer hit return and there I found it a complex in the same city as my college. I made an appointment to get the application and talk with management. When the Access bus dropped me off at the site I was thrilled! I was literally two blocks from the university. No more buses for me I could roll there. The apartment was on a prime intersection that consisted of on the north east side are Panera, Office Depot, Burger King, Dollar Tree and Smart & Final…, on the south east is (my bank) B of A, .99 Store, Goodwill, Subway,… on the north western corner is Starbucks, Yogurtland, Papa John’s, Chipotle,…on the south western corner is CVS, Mongolian BBQ, Donut Shop, Barber Shop…On top of all of these amenities (as if that wasn’t enough) the complex was beautiful and there is a bus stop in front of the complex. I immediately knew that I wanted to live here. This is where I belonged. I had an overwhelming peace about it.

I completed filling out of the application while I was still there and when I handed it in I was told that it would be a 6 month to an one year wait. Once I heard that I started praying, telling God I don’t care how long I have to wait if it is 7 yrs I’ll wait it. I told him I didn’t want to live anywhere else and all I asked is that when he made it possible for me to move in there could he allow it to happen during summer or winter break so I had enough time to get used to living on my own and doing for myself. At the assisted living they were doing my medications, my meals, cleaning and even making my bed. On the ride home I took a step of faith and called the other complexes and told them that I no longer needed to be on there list. This gave my friend the impression that I had an apartment. I didn’t but by faith I knew that in time my apartment would be in that complex, of that I had no doubts.

Not even one month later I got the message to put in my 1 month’s notice. God had answered my prayers far faster than I ever imaged!

God supplied what I didn’t even know that I needed! He is that good!!

Joy – A Woman After God’s Own Heart!

 

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God Trusts You, Do You Trust God?

God trusts you, do you trust God?

I’ve been a Christian for a long time and there have been times that have felt like a dry spell, times of refreshment, desert times, and honeymoon times, but through it all God has taught me one constant, that no matter how it feels He is always there and all I need to do is trust Him through whatever time I’m going through.  Just as Mother Teresa has said there are times when, “I just wish He didn’t trust me so much!”  But none the less God is faithful and He knows what is best despite our lack of faith and trust.

He will pray to God, and God will delight in him.  That man will behold His face with a shout of joy.  –  Job 33:26

Now if ever there was a man who was familiar with difficulties it was Job but look at the promise God gives him for his faithfulness to God.  God delights in our prayers, there is an awesome thought.  That alone should get me on my knees more often.  And if that weren’t enough we will behold His face one day the later seems to me like a well duh moment, of course we’ll shout for joy!  What we’ve been imagining for all so long we will no longer have to imagine, we will actually be in the presence of our God. Hurrah! Hallelujah! And Amen!!

But on the way to getting to that place God calls us to grow in Christ.  To become more and more like Him each day.

My journey has me on the discovery of past to overcome and move on in the here and now.  I praise God that things that where once just suspicions are now actual memories and I no longer doubt myself but am doing the work I need to do to move on from here.  It isn’t always fun, work rarely is, but it is necessary and freeing.   For that I am so grateful to God.  I’m making progress that I’ve never been able to make before and a heavy weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

You have begun to live a new life, in which you are being made new ad are becoming like the One who made you.  –  Colossians 3:10

As you go through the journey that God has in store for you to bring you to the perfect place that He has in mind for you, may I give you some advise to surrender to the Masters hands?  He knows the pattern of the cloth that He is weaving you into.  While you see the underside with all it’s dark threads of depression or deep red threads of pain, there are other threads you are less aware of that when it is finished in the Master Weaver’s hands will make a cloth so beautiful as you could never imagine.  Trust the Master and allow Him entrance into all the areas of your life.

“For I know the plans that I have for you, ” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”  –  Jeremiah 29:11

You see God promises that His plans are for our good.  So you can trust Him.

I have been through the dry spells and the desert times when you feel like you are all alone in what you are going through.  I have cried out to God, “Where are You?” “Don’t You see me?” “Don’t You care?” You want to know a secret? I have even cried out, “I don’t want to die right now cause I don’t want to  see You!  I hate You!  How could you let them institutionalize me!  He won!  If You came down here in the form of a man I would beat You!”  I might have well cried it out it was what was on my heart at the time and God already knew it.  I’m sure the nurses in the psych ward thought I was in the right place.  I misunderstood and thought I’d been institutionalized when it was just another in many psych ward visits.  You see my ex had gotten an attorney to see if he and my mother-in-law could institutionalize me, thus the rant when I thought I was.  But God as always was faithful and saw me through. Another lesson in trust.

He will always be there for me, I know that now.  My moments of doubt still come but they last far shorter than they used to instead of weeks or months they may last days or moments on a good day.  Then I remember all my Father has brought me through and I laugh to myself that I even questioned for a second that He wouldn’t have this covered too.

Joy – A Woman After God’s Own Heart!

Resting in the Lord

Today was a day of rest in the Lord with my boyfriend and my dog Tessa and I at the beach.

For Tessa things were not so restful, she barked at people passing by, the birds and squirrels.  Basically anything that moved that was new to her.  But she was enjoying herself as she jumped from me to my boyfriend for attention and love.  Of which there was plenty to go around.

She lays now quite content on a pillow watching me write this blog.  She is well worn out from the days activities.

My boyfriend and I had a more relaxing and refreshing time resting in the Lord.  Ron very wisely suggested that we take turns stating things that we could praise God for.  We praised Him for the beauty around us.  For work and the faithfulness of God to always provide.  We thanked Him for the fact that Tessa is still with us because by all accounts she should be dead because of many of my pills she got into, but God was merciful to me and her and kept her from dying.  I thanked Him that he brought Ron back into my life and Ron did likewise about me.  I thanked Him for my apartment, a gift from God.  The gratitude just kept going and going and it felt so good to be praising the Father together.

Ron then suggested that we pray about anything that came to mind.  First we were praying with our eyes closed and then Ron suggested to look out on the beauty of the ocean and not miss that as we were praying.  We prayed for our families, for work, for individuals we care about that have needs and individuals we struggle with that their hurting would come to an end and they might find God.  We were honest with God about where we stood with things and since God already knew it, I’m sure he honored it.

We ended the day watching the sunset.  It was beautiful and a glorious way to end a day with ones you care about and the most important One to care about.  It felt as though the day had been blessed by God.

We had started the day praying that it would be glorifying and honoring to God and that He would keep us.  I must say looking back, resting in God as we did made the day become just what we had prayed for.

My prayer is that you find the time and person to share such a blessed day with.

Joy – A Woman After God’s Own Heart!